WASHINGTON – Responding to likely the worst oil spill in US history, freshman Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) is set to introduce legislation later today that would "permanently prohibit" offshore drilling all along the Pacific Coast.
The brief two-page bill, which the congressman has dubbed the "West Coast Ocean Protection Act of 2010," was provided by his office to Raw Story. It seeks to "amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act" to ban oil exploration "off the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington."
"If you have any doubts on the need for this legislation, there's an oil slick the size of Puerto Rico that I want to introduce you to," Garamendi said in a statement to Raw Story.
The Gulf Coast spill has reinforced the representative's longstanding opposition to a policy that Democrats are divided on and Republicans vigorously support -- and one that President Barack Obama has backed to an extent.
"The people of the Gulf Coast are now witnessing the unnatural consequence of 'drill, baby, drill,'" he said. "Precious wetlands and hundreds of miles of coastline are at risk, multi-billion dollar ocean-based industries are threatened, and the experts say this spill could continue for months."
